Show Reviews

If your parents are anything like mine, they are usually pretty interested in meeting the "significant others" in your life. Fairly often, upon meeting them, our parents do not completely approve of the people we are seeing. It was therefore, with some trepidation that they might not get along, that I took my parents to see Phish. Musically, I assumed they would be fairly compatible. My mom considers Queen her favorite band and Paul her favorite Beatle; my dad in his day was a "teddy-boy" and subsequently a "rocker" (see Quadrophenia) whose vinyl collection included the works of Bill Haley, Pink Floyd, the Who, the Kinks, and Elvis. Perhaps more of a concern to me was how they would view the "scene" at a Phish show. Long gone for my parents was the hazy daze of early 1970's Amsterdam.

Arriving fairly early, we settled into our seats toward the front of the pavilion and took in the sights as we awaited the first set. My mom noticed a couple of kids bumping rails of white powder off the back of their hands and pointed them out to me. I chuckled as I pondered whether they would have shared the love or brushed my mom off as a narc if she had asked them for drugs. During the first set I was more interested in gauging my parents' reaction to the show than actually listening to it. As a consequence, the most musically intriguing part of this set for me was the cover of Little Feat's "On Your Way Down."

My mom, on the other hand, loved every note. She had at one time been a physical education teacher and to my great joy declared during "Limb by Limb" that she felt inspired by the music to resume teaching interpretive dance. Dad's reaction was not quite as good. Over the years his tastes had migrated towards the works of Willie Nelson and talk radio. He thought that Phish was good, but that everything was "a little too loud and flashy." In an effort to modulate the volume and minimize the visual overload of the light show, he spent the bulk of the second set in the concession area. This was a minor disappointment to me, but I understood that Phish just isn't for everybody, and he seemed to have enjoyed himself.

The second set was pretty damn good, with the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" being the high point. It went places I had never heard it go before. Mr. Kuroda set an incredibly thick ultraviolet tone to the whole thing that just spun me for a loop. As hard as I tried to resist it, I could not fight the power this trance-house groove-laden jam had over me, and I completely forgot my mom was there. In that moment, as she watched my unique version of interpretive dance, I believe she grasped why the band is such an important component of my life; it is both a source of and an outlet for completely unconditional love.

Just wanted to point out that this was Harris Wittels' first show...His remarks about it: "My first show was September 25, ‘99 in at the Woodlands in Houston. I was literally a fan since that night. It was the most amazing concert experience of my life. It wasn’t even that great of a show but even a regular Phish show especially pre-hiatus is gonna be better than anything else you see. I revisit it pretty frequently, less frequently now especially since Live Phish is available, now so I just listen to shows from the current tour, when I have time to listen to whole shows. But it was great, I remember the moment “Bowie” reshaped my opinion on what music could be"

I was at this show, on my birthday, in the town where I was born. I attended the night before in Austin as well. I really enjoyed myself at this show. As far as the recording, it's a good one to throw in that won't require a lot of attention. It will perk your ears at various times and force you to listen but, in all honesty, the night before was a lot better. The 2001 is spectacular though. I'm kind of surprised that it does not get a "highly recommended" stamp. I guess there is a personal bias I'm experiencing. Perhaps it isn't long enough to make the cut. Check it out though, you won't be disappointed. I wish there were clearer copies of this show available out there. Unfortunately, I don't see it being one that gets released from the archives.

This is a show to to leads. Mike and Trey seem to trade off throughout this entire show being the dominant player,

Tube gives the show a quick injection with Mike laying down the funk hard. On your way down shows up again and does it's thing as a bluesy little song somewhat in the middle. LXL is basically the same one you have gotten all year. All around average first set but high energy none the less.

The second set is where things get interesting. Mike absolutely owns Bowie and he drives the whole thing rather well. Nothing new or too exciting but they do play Bowie as it should be played. Coil > Caspian is where Trey steps in front. A slow couple of songs but Caspian has some nice peaks and valleys on Trey's part, you can tell he's really having fun with it. R&R continues Trey's reign in the front and is pure Trey Shreddery at the end. Things go back to Mike in 2001 as he lays down a nice smooth groove that to me may be the highlight of the whole show, it flows very well.

Frankenstein, Julius, Zero are well.....What they are to close a show they don't really add or take anything away.

Overall a pretty average show with some interesting trade offs in dominance throughout.

Donate to Mockingbird

Contact Us

The Mockingbird Foundation

The Mockingbird Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Phish fans in 1996 to generate charitable proceeds from the Phish community.

And since we're entirely volunteer – with no office, salaries, or paid staff – administrative costs are less than 2% of revenues! So far, we've distributed over $1,000,000 to support music education for children – hundreds of grants in all 50 states, with more on the way.